raspberry Archives - Summers Acres

Making Raspberry Jam

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Last year was the first year that we were able to harvest any of our raspberries. We were pleasantly surprised at how many we were able to gather. Many we ate right there on the spot. Wow, they were delicious right off the vine! So, of course we had to make raspberry jam too.

Fresh raspberries do not keep very long so once they started trickling in we froze what we did not eat right away. Once we had enough we planned to make raspberry jam, but things never seem to go as planned. So we just got around to making raspberry jam. Freezing is so convenient if your berries are coming in small batches or if you just do not have time to use them. We pulled the frozen raspberries out of the freezer and ran the bags under some cold water to thaw. They thaw rather quickly.
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Growing Raspberries Year 2

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How wonderful it is to see everything coming alive in the spring. Last year in February we planted 4 bare root raspberry canes. Along the trellis you can see how much our 4 raspberry canes have grown.

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Bare Root Raspberries 8 Month Progress

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Back in February we planted 2 Latham and 2 Heritage Everbearing bare root raspberry canes. We were pleasantly surprised when they began growing and did not die like our attempt last year. But what was even more amazing to us is that the 2 Heritage Everbearing canes were putting out fruit! A few weeks ago we were doing our evening walk in the garden and out of the corner of my eye I saw bright red over at the raspberries.

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Bare Root Raspberries 7 Month Progress

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We had planted 2 raspberry vines last year, but they never grew and died. They were a part of the shipment that got lost, came late, and were planted late. So back in February on a trip to Tractor Supply we bought 4 more bare root raspberry canes (2 Heritage Everbearing and 2 Latham).

We planted the raspberries just a few days later and said a little prayer.

For what seemed like the longest time there was again no sign of life. Then 2 months after planting we finally saw some green life to them.

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Bare root raspberry growth after 2 months

Bare Root Raspberries 2 Month Progress

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Early in February we bought 4 bare root raspberry plants. As mentioned before, last year we did not have any success with some bare root raspberry plants we purchased online.

The raspberries from last year were shipped with some gel on the roots. Although this year we bought our plants at Tractor Supply Company, they were also bare root packaged in peat moss. Just a little over 2 months ago, we planted the raspberries outside and covered them with lots of pine needles.
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Heritage Everbearing Raspberries Latham Raspberries

Planting The Raspberries

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Yesterday after church and our grocery run in Walmart, Jon planted our new raspberry vines that we bought from Tractor Supply Company Saturday. These were packed in peat moss and the raspberries we ordered online last year were shipped in a dormant dry root state.

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Chicken Waterer Heat Lamp Supplies Tractory Supply

Chicks, Onions, Garlic, and Raspberries

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I apologize the posts have been sparse this week. Work has been hectic and very full days all week and it seems life has just been a bit busy.

My oldest came by Monday after work to discuss his taxes, all the details about getting his wisdom teeth cut out this coming Monday, and to drop of his laptop for some software installation. It was good to spend the evening with him as sometimes I may not see him for a couple of weeks.

Then Tuesday I worked a little late as I was on the brink of a coding breakthrough and I just could not let it go! I got my program working fantastically and headed home. My boss was in the parking lot as I was leaving work and texted me that my car didn’t sound right and I should probably get it looked at. I had not noticed, but I turned the radio off and did hear the humming/whirling sound it was making. I had just had the oil changed last week and there were not issues. So, naturally I am really concerned as my Envoy is a 2005 and has 145k+ miles on it. After getting home, since Jon was closing I worked on George’s laptop. I installed his AVG virus protection, Microsoft Office, and then did some “clean up” on his laptop as he does not. He would not be offended if he never had to use a computer again, but alas he must use one for college.

Jon was off Wednesday and had already planned on taking his truck to the dealer as his check engine light had been on for a few days and his truck was less than a year old. So, he did that super early and luckily all was well. They said it was some code due to the aftermarket gas cap he has (we all had our gas syphoned awhile back and bought locking gas caps). OK, whatever at least it wasn’t anything big. So he was done at the dealership about the time I was heading to work. So I dropped my car off at another garage for them to take a look and Jon picked me up and took me to work. I had a bad idler pulley and they replaced it for $159. Well, that wasn’t in the budget, but at least it wasn’t worse. I was worrying the whole time until the garage called to tell me the problem. Then Wednesday evening we all went to church after work and school.

Thursday I actually went to Zumba to work out. I have failed miserably at working out recently, but am glad I went. I should report the instructor for attempted mass murder! It was brutal or ummmm I have gotten out of shape.

Then Friday I picked up George’s 4 prescriptions in preparation for his wisdom teeth surgery Monday and went to Sarah’s indoor soccer game. They won.

Then today Jon and I went to Sarah’s last soccer game of this indoor season and the girls won again. It was cool to wrap up the season with 2 strong wins as the beginning of the season was a bit rocky. Then we went to Tractor Supply after the game. We love TSC!

We were mostly going to look for onion sets as we need to start planting in a week and supplies for chickens. Yes, chickens. We have been discussing and preparing for awhile. The TSC employee said the baby chicks will be in Monday! Yay, I thought it would be a few more weeks. So, we went ahead and got some starter supplies for new baby chicks. Continue reading “Chicks, Onions, Garlic, and Raspberries” →

Apple and Peach Sticks Finally Arrive

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Finally, our other order of trees and raspberry vines came! We ordered this list of trees and raspberry vines below on April 25th.

Belle of Georgia Peach Trees – Dwarf avail. (Tree Height: Dwarf 2-3ft (grows 40% normal size))
Elberta Peach Trees – Dwarf avail. (Tree Height: Dwarf 2-3ft (grows 40% normal size))
McIntosh Apple Trees – Dwarf avail. (Tree Height: Dwarf 2-3ft (grows 40% normal size))
Granny Smith Apple Trees – Dwarf avail. (Tree Height: Dwarf 2-3ft (grows 40% normal size))
Yellow Delicious Apple Trees – Dwarf avail. (Tree Height: Dwarf 2-3ft (grows 40% normal size))
Gala Apple Trees – Dwarf avail. (Tree Height: Dwarf 2-3ft (grows 40% normal size))
Heritage Everbearing Raspberry
Latham Red Raspberry

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Trees and Bushes

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We had been talking for awhile now about how bad the economy has gotten and how expensive everything has become. Just the fundamentals in life like food and water just keep creeping in price. And if you want fresh fruit or vegetables, well it’s just plain ridiculous!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to supply some of our own fresh fruit? Oh, and even better if we had enough for preserves and jams! Growing up we always had apple trees, pear trees, black walnut trees, black berries, and dew berries readily available. I took it for granted as a child.

As kids when out playing we would just go pick an apple when we wanted one. I used to like to pick them green before they had ripened. I did suffer the random tummy ache because of eating too many!

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